Tag Archives: Captain America

Well, this ain’t good. This past weekend, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opened to a tidy $92 million. Those are monstrous numbers, sure, only a whisker below Captain America: The Winter Soldier for the year’s biggest opening. And overseas, the numbers are robust, a possible threat to $500 million if the pace continues, and anytime your film can approach half-a-billion outside of America, it’s impressive.

But a closer look reveals that Sony has trotted Spider-Man out five times thus far, and these last two films show a downtrend. The $92 million take severely trails not only the monster opening of 2007’s Spider-Man 3 but even the $115 million scored by Sam Raimi’s non-3D Spider-Man on the same weekend twelve years ago. The Amazing Spider-Man was the lowest grossing film of the series, and this next one might perform even weaker, despite the boost received from the biggest box office weekend of the year.

This bodes poorly for Sony’s plans, give that there is a third and fourth film in this series scheduled for 2016 and 2018, and intentions for spinoff Venom and Sinister Sixmovies in the coming years. The studio has crowed about having a Spidey movie every year, with some at the studio expecting a billion dollar global gross for this entry. Clearly that’s not going to be the case at all, and Sony needs to examine their options if they want the wallcrawler to remain viable. So, what can they do? Here are 5 bold options:

Option 1: Stay The Course

Sony’s got four more prospective blockbusters coming down the pike, four more movies with Spidey that can make half-a-billion worldwide each, at least. But it’s suggested that Amazing Spider-Man 2 cost $250 million, with an additional $180 million spent on marketing. If those numbers are accurate, then the new film would have to gross in the neighborhood of $800 million worldwide to generate theatrical profit. Fortunately, while it will probably fall short of that benchmark, the film will ultimately register solid numbers in ancillary markets, like TV deals and merchandising.

So smart business says that there’s still plenty of life in Spider-Man. It’s worth noting that the original plan for The Amazing Spider-Man was to make a much smaller, more intimate picture that would cost far less than the mega-budget Sam Raimi films. There’s no reason they still can’t try that: there are sets and animatics already designed from these previous Spidey films, and a bit of added fiscal responsibility can get the budget underneath $200 million. If Amazing Spider-Man 2 cost, say, $180 million to produce (the usual budget for Marvel’s films over at Disney) and something like $140 million to promote, then it would only need to approach $600 million to break-even, a number the movie should surpass soon.

Yes, it’s a bit implausible that future Spider-Man films could be that much cheaper than the recent entry, but Hollywood makes scads of blockbusters each year at a more responsible cost. Heck, Michael Bay has brought each apocalyptic Transformersmovie in underneath $200 million thus far, and it seems far more complicated to put the Autobots onscreen than it does a skinny guy in full-bodied pajamas swinging around the city. With no real above-the-line talent aboard these films (compared to Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, who negotiated for top dollar in the earlier films), having these pictures cost so much is downright irresponsible. This enterprise can continue with a little less money and a little bit more ingenuity.

Since Marvel’s The Avengers came out in May 2012, I’ve been left wondering if any Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film could live up to that epic. Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World were disappointing with their less than exciting villains and storylines that didn’t really dig deep into what was the fallout of the alien attack on New York. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D has been erratic – sometimes reminding me what I love about the MCU and other times tempting me to abandon it, but I stay because Coulson Lives. Finally though with The Winter Soldier do we have an enemy worth getting excited because as Loki has proven, sometimes the most thrilling villains are the people you know.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier begins with Captain Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) living in present day Washington, D.C., still learning about the decades he missed while frozen and still not quite seeing eye to eye with S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). When things become amiss at S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve finds himself on the run with The Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) as they attempt to discover what’s the dangerous secret that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been harboring.

As I left the theater I realized this is one of those films where you can’t say much about it without giving something away and that’s part of what makes Captain America: The Winter Soldier the best Marvel film since The Avengers. With twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat for more than two hours, it was refreshing to be thrilled by a superhero movie again!

Chris Evans continues to be perfect as Captain America. He has the good looks, the body, the charm, the loyalty, and often the innocence of this character down perfectly. Steve Rogers is a soldier and a fighter, but he also a really good guy and there’s never a moment when you aren’t wanting “good” to triumph. Scarlett Johansson’s return to The Black Widow with the same vivaciousness and allure that makes you wonder what is real and what isn’t with her. She’s a great partner for the Captain and I wouldn’t mind seeing them teamed up again in the future.

Also returning are the previously mentioned Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders as Marie Hill. Maximiliano Hernandez, who has played a minor role as Agent Jasper Sitwell going back to Thor, has recently appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.including this past Tuesday’s episode. When we last saw him he left Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) for an assignment noting that he “had a boat to catch.” You’ll see what boat he ended up on within the first ten minutes of the film.

There are several new characters, including Anthony Mackie as former paratrooper turned counselor Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon, Robert Redford as S.H.I.E.L.D. official Alexander Pierce, Revenge’s Emily VanCamp as Agent 13, and The Winter Soldier. All feel perfect for their roles and are great additions to the MCU.

After Man of Steel destroyed New York again Metropolis and then Thor: The Dark World wreaked havoc on a section of London, I was beginning to think super hero films were stuck on recycling the same idea. Yes, there are some things about The Winter Soldierthat are comic movie formulaic, like monologuing, but the action sequences felt fresh and the story kept surprising me, with The Winter Soldier’s identity being the least of the surprises.

Thanks to The Winter Soldier my love for the MCU is reinvigorated and just as I couldn’t wait for the next films after The Avengersto see the fallout from New York, I now can’t wait to see next week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to see what happens after The Winter Soldier. If you watch the show or not, you don’t want to miss the film.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens nationwide today, April 4, kicking off the summer movie season rather early. As with all Marvel films, stay all the way to the end of the credits.

There is a great game of chicken being played out between Disney and Marvel Studios and their rival DC Comics and Warner Bros. Marvel was first to stake a claim in the prime May 6, 2016 release date, though they didn’t reveal their title right away. Because of production delays, Warner Bros. and DC were forced to move their epic Man of Steelsequel Batman Vs. Superman out of summer 2015. And they decided to move in on Marvel’s turf.

Rightly thinking that pairing two of comics most iconic superheroes would trump anything Marvel had to offer, it seemed like Disney would have to rethink its strategy for 2016. There was no way the untested Doctor Strange could face off against these DC giants. Everyone thought Marvel would surely turn tail and find another open weekend. But no, they announced they weren’t moving. And not only that, they revealed that it would beCaptain America 3 opening on that prime piece of real estate.

Quite a few fans balked. There was no way Captain America 3 could take on the two-fisted punch of Batman Vs. Superman. But then Captain America: The Winter Soldieropened to rave reviews from critics and fans alike. It was a winner. Not only that, it became a box office success with three #1 weekends in a row domestically. It has now earned $200 million in just three weeks, with a global take of $585 million.

But still, it can’t win against Batman Vs. Superman, can it? While Disney was set to stand firm on their May 6, 2016 release date, it sounds like they are the first to start swerving the wheel. While its unclear who would be the winner, opening two huge blockbusters on the same weekend will mean financial loss for both studios. And Marvel wants all the money it can get.

Disney CEO Alan Horn was speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival today in New York, and revealed that the studio is currently struggling with the release date.

This is obviously the first sign of weakness. Will DC and Warner Bros. even consider backing down now? That remains to be seen, but it looks like Marvel may lose this battle. Or, if we look at it a different way, their schedule change for Captain America 3might make them the bigger winners. What do you think should happen?

Breaking news: It’s being reported that CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 is being lined up for a May 6th, 2016 release date. The news has just been released by Disney and Marvel over at Deadline, and confirms the previous rumours that it would go head-to-head with Warner Brothers and DC’s BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN.

Chris Evans will return to the title role one more time for the follow-up to ‘The Winter Soldier,’ which we earlier reported has taken a massive $96 million at the north American box-office, a record for April. Anthony and Joe Russo will return to direct the third film. Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely also return to write the script.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters today, which means it’s a day to celebrate the achievements of Marvel Studios. We’re in the middle of a comic book storytelling renaissance, folks, and Marvel is at the head of it. The way they have weaved all these characters and movies together into one huge story is truly remarkable. It’s something we talk about every day, but step back a second and look really think about it. It’s movie history.

As the case with most things, history isn’t without its detractors, such as the team atCinemaSins. Once again they’ve gone ahead and nitpicked their way to millions of YouTube views with their patented “Everything Wrong With” series. Two of the latest videos, not coincidentally released close to The Winter Soldier, are Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor: The Dark World. Watch “Everything Wrong With Thor The Dark World” and “Everything Wrong With Captain America: The First Avenger” below.

Here’s the question with these. Do they make any worthy arguments or are they nitpicking sci-fi fantasy a bit too much?

Everything Wrong With Captain America: The First Avenger

Everything Wrong With Thor The Dark World

This Year in Movies – 2014 will once again be a year of sequels and remakes. There will be over 20 movie sequels in 2014, including Transformers 4: Age of Extinction, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Expendables 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men Days of Future, Night at the Museum 3, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, The Amazing Spider-Man, 22 Jump Street and 300: Rise of An Empire, among others. Expect remakes of Godzilla, Robocop, Annie and Pinocchio on the big screen too.